Trading on global markets should be less frenetic today and tomorrow with the Chinese markets closed for the massive celebrations of the end of World War 2.
So local investors will not have to have one eye on the way Wall Street finished (overnight, solidly), or on the start to trading in China later this morning.
Shanghai ended yesterday day down just 0.2%, after being off 5% and a bit more. But while Shanghai lost around 2.2% from Monday to yesterday, the tech-heavy Shenzhen market has lost more than 9%.
So no guidance from China for the next two days which should ease tensions elsewhere in the world. But towards the end of next week we start getting the August economic data from China – so volatility will rise.
Our market will open more than 30 points higher this morning after trading on the overnight futures market indicated arise of 35 points on the ASX 200.
US oil futures staged a turnaround during trading overnight, rebounding from under $US44 a barrel to end well above $US46 a barrel for no real reason. US government oil inventory and production data wasn’t bullish with a surprise rise in unsold stocks of oil. But ever optimistic traders saw joy when there was none in the report.
As a result, October WTI crude rose 1.9%, to settle at $US46.25 a barrel in New York. Prices had earlier touched a low of $US43.21. In London, October Brent crude also settled 1.9%, higher at $US50.50 a barrel. But gold futures on Comex eased around $US7 to $US1,333 an ounce.
On Wall Street shares ended higher after the US Federal Reserve Beige book for the September 16 – 17 meeting painted a more optimistic economic picture.
The Beige book several district banks had “reported increasing wage pressures caused by labor market tightening” a change from earlier reports that noted higher pay in isolated sectors.
But there were also reports that the strong dollar and the drop in oil prices were depressing activity in other districts (especially Texas and North Dakota), which could see the Fed decide to delay raising interest rates at the meeting later this month.
The S&P 500 ended up 23 points, or 1.2%, to 1,937. The Dow added a solid 216 points, or 1.3%, to 16,274 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 74 points, or 1.6%, to 4,710 as shares in Apple, Netflix, Intel, Microsoft and other leading tech companies enjoyed a solid day of trading. The next big test for US and other markets will be the August jobs report Friday night, our time.
